Book Beginnings, First Line Friday, & Friday 56: A Lady's Handbook to Gadgets and Guile (A Daughters of Genius Society Novel) by Angela Bell

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. I'm also linking up with Carrie at Reading is My Superpower for First Line Friday. Friday 56 asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two. It was started by Freda at Freda's Voice, but Anne over at My Head is Full of Books has taken over for the time being.

This week I'm featuring A Lady's Handbook to Gadgets and Guile (A Daughters of Genius Society Novel) by Angela Bell. This was even better than I thought it would be. I adored it! 

SYNOPSIS

Margaret Kingsley's routine revolves around invention not investigation--until her ordered world springs a gasket.

London, England, 1895
Ambulatory wheelchair user Margaret Kingsley secretly crafts gadgets for the Daughters of Genius Society, a covert team of lady inspectors disguised as harmless bluestocking spinsters. While her fellow inspectors gallivant about London solving crimes, Margaret has been perfectly content assisting from the sidelines--until her expertise is needed to infiltrate the domain of London's most prolific inventor.

Charles Noble sacrificed his career as a musician to support his family after his father's stroke. Now he balances ledgers as a secretary by day and tends to his disabled father by night, but he can't pass up the chance to take a temporary job as event coordinator for a famous inventor commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of his mechanical empire. As strange occurrences cause Charles' event planning to collide with Margaret's case, the pair must unravel a plot of sabotage against the inventor's legacy while also investigating the sparks of attraction between them. 

Little Women meets Inspector Gadget in Angela Bell's witty romp of brilliant women, whimsical gadgetry, and sweet he-falls-first romance set in the Victorian era with themes of disability representation, women in STEM, light academia, and steampunk.

Book Beginnings / First Line Friday

March 29, 1895

London, England 

How was a lady supposed to discreetly conceal a grappling hook on her person, that was the question. And the answer, quite logically, was within the handle of a parasol.

Friday 56

As they entered the Invention Factory, the pair was greeted not by the rhythmic clanking of tools of the frenetic whirring of machinery, but by a familiar voice warbling a lively tune one would expect to come staggering out of a pub.

What have you been reading lately?